آتش و مرگ

Chapter eight

Fire and Death

Kino opened his eyes in the darkness. He felt something moving near him, but he did not move. Kino’s eyes looked into the darkness. The light of the moon came through the holes in the little house.

By the light of the moon, Kino saw Juana get up silently. He saw her go towards the fireplace. Kino heard a little sound as Juana moved the stone. Then she went quietly to the door. She stopped for a moment, near Coyotito’s hanging box. Then Kino saw Juana in the doorway as she went out.

Kino was very angry. He got up and quickly followed Juana. Kino could hear her footsteps going towards the sea. Kino’s anger was burning in his head as he silently followed her. Juana went through some bushes and over some stones towards the water. Then she heard Kino coming and she started to run.

Juana’s arm was up and ready to throw the pearl into the sea. Kino jumped forward and held her arm and took the pearl.

Then Kino hit Juana in the face with his hand. Juana fell on the stones and Kino kicked her as she lay on the ground. In the moonlight, Kino could see the little waves washing over Juana. Her skirt floated around her legs in the water.

Kino looked down and angrily showed his teeth. Juana looked up with wide, frightened eyes. Juana was like a sheep in front of a butcher. She knew that Kino could kill her and she would not stop him. Juana was waiting for death. Then the anger left Kino and he felt sick at what Juana had done. Kino could not think clearly any more. He turned away and walked back through the bushes.

Suddenly, he heard someone running at him. Kino struck with his knife and he felt the knife go in. Then someone pulled Kino to the ground and Kino felt greedy fingers going into his pockets. The pearl dropped onto the little stone pathway and shone in the moonlight.

Juana pulled herself up from the water. Her face and the side of her body were full of pain. She pulled herself up onto her knees. Juana was not angry with Kino. She needed Kino and she could not live without him. Juana did not understand Kino very well, but she knew him and needed him. Of course Juana would follow Kino. She would follow Kino, because she might be able to save him.

Juana got up slowly. She washed her face with the sea water and then went slowly up the beach after Kino. Some clouds had moved over the sky from the south. The moon went in and out of the clouds so that Juana sometimes walked in darkness and sometimes in the moonlight. Her back was bent with pain and her head hung low. She went through the bushes when the moon was covered with clouds. When it was light again, Juana saw the great pearl shining on the stone pathway. She knelt down and took the pearl.

The moon went behind a cloud again. Juana stayed on her knees and thought about going back to the sea again. When the moon came out from behind the clouds, Juana saw two men lying on the path in front of her. Juana jumped up and saw that one of the men was Kino. The other man was a stranger. The stranger had blood coming from his throat.

Kino moved a little and tried to talk. His arms and legs moved slowly, like the legs of a half-dead animal. A dead man was lying on the path and Kino’s knife was lying next to the dead man. And Kino’s knife was covered with blood. Juana wanted to live the old life, the life before the pearl. But their lives had changed since they found the pearl. Bad things had happened. And now, Kino had killed a man. Now, Kino and Juana could do nothing except run away.

Juana’s pain had gone now. She quickly pulled the dead man from the pathway, into the bushes. Juana went to Kino and washed his face with her wet skirt. At last, Kino spoke.

‘They have taken the pearl,’ he said. ‘I have lost the pearl. My dream is finished. The pearl has gone.’

Juana comforted Kino as she would comfort a sick child.

‘Here is your pearl,’ Juana said. ‘I found the pearl on the path. Can you hear me now? Here is your pearl. Can you understand? You have killed a man. We must go away. People will come for us. Don’t you understand? We must go, before daylight comes.’

‘Someone attacked me,’ Kino answered. ‘I hit him to save my life.’

‘Do you think anyone will believe that?’ Juana asked.

‘No,’ Kino answered, breathing deeply. ‘You are right!’

Kino became a strong man again.

‘Go to our house and bring Coyotito,’ Kino said. ‘Bring all the corn that we have. I will push the canoe into the water and we will go.

Kino took his knife and left Juana. Kino ran towards the beach and he came to his canoe. By the light of the moon, he saw a big hole in the bottom of his boat. Kino was so angry that he felt even stronger than before. His grandfather’s canoe had been built with strong plaster. Now, it had a big hole in the bottom.

The killing of a boat was something very bad for the fishermen. The killing of a man was not so bad as the killing of a boat. A boat does not have sons and a boat cannot fight. A wounded boat does not get better.

Kino was angry and sad, but now he was as strong as an animal.

Now, Kino lived only to hide and to fight. He lived only to fight for his family. He ran up the beach and through the bushes to his little house.

The cockerels were crowing now and it was getting light. Smoke from the first fires was coming out of the houses. Kino could smell breakfast cooking. The early birds were moving in the bushes. The moon was losing its light and the clouds were getting thicker in the south. The wind blew and Kino could smell rain in the air.

Kino suddenly felt happy as he hurried to his house. He would think clearly because now he had only one thing to do. He had to go away. Kino touched the great pearl in his shirt. Then he felt his knife hanging round his neck.

Suddenly, Kino saw a little light in front of him, and then a tall flame jumped into the air. The flame made a loud noise as it lit up the pathway. Kino started to run because he knew that his house was burning. Kino also knew that these little wooden houses could burn down in a few minutes.

As Kino ran, Juana came running towards him with Coyotito in her arms. The baby was crying and Juana’s eyes were wide and frightened. Kino could see what had happened. He did not ask Juana any questions. Kino knew what had happened before Juana spoke.

‘Some men were in the house,’ Juana said. ‘They were looking for the pearl. Then they set fire to the wood.’

The strong light from the burning house shone on Kino’s face.

‘Who was it?’ Kino asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Juana answered. ‘I could not see.’

The neighbours came running out of their houses. People tried to stop pieces of burning wood falling onto the other little houses.

Suddenly, Kino was afraid. The light made him afraid. Kino remembered the dead man in the bushes near the path. He took Juana’s arm and pulled her into the shadow of the house. He did not want the neighbours to see them. Kino pulled Juana away from the light because light wa^now a danger to them.

Kino and Juana went quickly to the house of Juan Tomas. Kino went in the door and pulled Juana after him. Outside, Kino and Juana could hear the cries of children and the shouts of the neighbours. The neighbours thought that Kino might be inside the burning house.